How to teach a child bilingual reading

In today's world, with more and more business being transacted across the globe, one of the most valuable assets anyone can have is the ability to speak more than one language. And not just to speak that second language, but to be fluent enough to read and to write well in it, too. In order to give your child a head start on being able to communicate in our multicultural, multilingual society, you may wish to get an early start on practicing bilingual reading.

Things You'll Need

• CDs of songs in second language
• DVDs of movies and/or TV shows in other languages
• Dual-language and second language picture books (and story books for older readers)
• Comic books and graphic novels in target language for older readers

Instructions

1. Get an early start on introducing your child to a second language. It helps if you yourself or perhaps a caregiver are fluent in another language. If this is not a possibility, though, you can still play songs in this language and even watch some children's programs in this language. Check with your library to see whether they can arrange to borrow such items for you if they do not have them in their collection.

2. Read picture books together in the target language. Try not to translate word-for-word from one language into another - automatically translating words in a second language into our first language is a habit many of us pick up when we try to learn a second language as an older student, but it really helps a child to become fluent if she can just connect the picture directly to the word in the second language. Only when a child learns to think in another language can she be said to be truly bilingual.

3. Use dual-language books if you, yourself are not fluent in the target language and feel the need of a little extra help when it comes to figuring out what the words mean, but try to have your child concentrate on the side of the page where the words in the second language are written. You can be sneaky and put a sheet of notebook paper over the words in English, only lifting the paper to peek at those words yourself.

4. Don't ignore the value of comic books and graphic novels in the target language. These may be more appealing to older children than will picture books, and the accompanying visuals will illustrate what the unfamiliar words may be trying to express. Read them with your child, and try to guess what some of the nonsense words/exclamations may be in the other language - i.e. how are they saying "pow!" or "ugh!" in Japanese?

Tips & Warnings

• Many DVDs have a feature where you can switch the audio from an English to a French or Spanish version, should these be your target languages